Seventh Autumn
by shihx
Summary: A kid was kidnapped during the light of the day. Who is he and what have Shuichi and Shinichi got to do with him? A future alternative of Kudo family. -on hold-
1. Shuichi's Blues on A Golden Day

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

_Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja_

_Chitto tōshite kudashanse..._

It was a windy noon in a fine autumn day. Shuichi curled his head lazily on the table, his hands hugging it. Through the window, his gaze set emptily at the children playing beneath the golden sky of the falling leaves. A forlorn air carved onto his face. _Why do I have to be stuck here when others are having fun? Why do I have to be alone? Why do everyone leave me behind? _He squealed, inside.

Shuichi sighed. He turned his head up, nodded right and left. Of course, what was he expecting? There was nothing but empty chairs and silent walls, and he knew that fact very well. Now his stare moved onto the clock. It was showing 3.25 p.m, an hour five minutes away from Shuichi's anticipation. The window was calling him again, but Shuichi knows it was going to make him even more upset. He however was unable to resist the call; he gave it a short look before giving up. He then buried his face, prompted to drift his sight away from the covetous scenery. _Now even pitch black is much better to face!_ He thought. In his head playing the scene from out of the window; the golden leaves falling out, the amber sky, the breezy wind, the little games Shuichi's friends are playing...

It got Shuichi thinking, how they didn't even look up to sneak a glance at how Shuichi was doing. They sure knew how Shuichi would have always preferred the window seat; they sure knew they'd spot him right away just by looking up. But why wouldn't they? Was _tōryanse _that much fun to spare their thought onto their less fortunate friend trapped up here? Or, was the time spent without him much more fun than the time spent with him?

And that was the exact questions Shuichi had been replaying over and over again in his head. Not only his friends, Otou-san and Okaa-san... how long had it been since they asked Shuichi how he was doing at school? How long had it been since Otou-san spare a little hour or so just to play football with him, like how he used to? How long had it been since Kaa-san cooked his favorite shrimp curry instead of telling Shuu to just grab a ramen or something in the way home? And the worst part was, Shuichi could never even complain; because Shuu knew it was probably an increased workload, and his new baby sister that needed more caring than he. But sometimes, just this once, wouldn't it be fair for Shuichi to feel invisible, these time around?

"Kudo-kun..."

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

_Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja_

_Chitto tōshite kudashanse..._

"Kudo-kun!"

Shuichi could listen all the noises amongst the children outside the window; names shouted, laughters shrieked. Still, no one was looking up. Even the last golden leaf in a silent branch closest to him decided to fall, leaving him...

"Kudo-kun?!"

It was another pitch black, and it was calling his name, asking him to dwell inside it. Shuichi didn't know where the whisper was from, but he suddenly had an idea that maybe—just maybe—he could play with his friends inside it. Maybe—just maybe—Otou-san was waiting there with a ball ready to be kicked, and Kaa-san was holding a bowl of shrimp curry he liked for him. Maybe—just maybe—the darkness was just a keyhole to a happiness he had longed for...

"KUDO-KUN, WAKE UP!"

Shuichi jumped in shock.

"Sugiura-sensei..."

"Kudo-kun, it's already fifteen minutes past 5 p.m. You must have fallen asleep..."

Shuichi looked at the clock. It showed exactly a quarter an hour past his probation time. He looked out of the window, and there were no more children playing around in the school field. All that left was a mound of golden leaves, reflecting the shine of the vermilion sun.

"Go home already, Kudo-kun. And don't forget your homework next time. I'm sure Kobayashi-sensei just wanted you to be more attentive to your tasks in the future,"

_Meh. Kobayashi-sensei—that angry grandma—just didn't like how I was still getting A's even though my homeworks weren't as neat as the girls'._ Shuichi defended himself in his mind.

"I understand. Arigatou, Sugiura-sensei. See you tomorrow!"

Shuichi packed up his books and put on his bag. Sugiura-sensei was opening the class door when he remembered something and turned back his head to Shuichi.

"Ano, Kudo-kun. A man and a woman are waiting for you downstairs."

Shuichi couldn't believe his ears. _Really? Otou-san and Okaa-san came to pick me up?_ His eyes gleaming with happiness.

_But wait, Sugiura-sensei should have just mentioned it was my parents, if they _were_ my parents._

"I have never seen them before though. I mean, I have met Ran-san couples of time, and although I've never met Kudo-keibu face to face, I've seen him from the TV. Anyway, maybe we should both check first, just in case,"

And so, Shuichi and Sugiura-sensei walked down the stairs together. It was quiet in Teitan Elementary. Shuichi could only hear, in his head, what his Otou-san and Okaa-san were talking about today before he set up to school today. It was about children' kidnapping rates, how it had been raising lately, to be precise.

"_So, Shuu had better be raising his awareness of the surroundings... won't you, Shuu?"_

Of course, Otou-san said that before he rushed to the Metro Police Headquarters where he works before Shuichi could even say he would, and Okaa-san gave her last little but charming smile to Shuichi just before his baby sister's cry broke again and she flew away in a blink of an eye. But that wasn't what Shuichi was concerned about...

"Now," Shuichi and Sugiura-sensei arrived at the gate. "There, the couple that has been waiting for you,"

From a distance, Shuichi could see a man in a dark suit, wearing a cap that wasn't too matching with his outfit. The woman beside him looking beautiful although Shuichi could only see the back of her head. Her long light-colored hair flowing, autumn's amber sky shimmering upon it.

"So..." Shuichi looked up to his Sensei, catching a doubtful glance in his face. "Does Kudo-kun recognize th..."

"Kudo Shuichi-kun!" Before Sugiura-sensei finished what he said, the woman had already pronounced Shuichi's name with so much joy; just as if she just met someone whom she held dear since forever. Not even the fact that she was wearing a pair of shades could hide that excitement.

She walked towards Shuichi, kneeled before him to get a better look at the boy's face. The man before her followed. Shuichi could see now that he was using a crutch to walk; his right leg seemed to be compromised. Shuichi wondered what happened to him, for he was looking strong with a well build and brawny structure.

"I am so sorry for the trouble, Sensei. Thank you for letting Shuu go home," Said the man with a kind look. Shuichi glanced at him suspiciously. Not everyone called him that. Well not_ strangers_.

"No problem, his probation ended already anyway. Please take Kudo-kun home safely, will you?"

"Don't worry, we will," The man was so full of confidence it shone through his eyes. How his eyes was as sharp as a blade contradicted with his generous and welcoming smile.

"So, shall we go home then, _cool boy_?"

Shuichi was analyzing the man so intensely that he forgot the woman he was captivated with even just from the strands of her hair was right in front of him. _With those happy smile__s__, what could possibly go wrong? They must be Otou-san's other friends just like that time..._ He recalled the moment he first met Heiji and Kazuha, how he mistook them as kidnappers and got ridiculed throughout the New Year celebration break 3 years ago.

_After all, I really have nothing to do. Even if __they really were__ kidnappers... wouldn't this be an interesting adventure?_

Shuichi realized how loneliness and suspicion equal adventure. The woman stood up, grabbing Shuichi's hand and guide him out of the school. The man bowed good bye to Sugiura-sensei and proceeded to follow them through. It was a scarlet red Mercedes Benz S-class that served as the end point of the walk. The man stepped forward and opened the passenger seat.

"Come on in, don't be shy," he said.

Shuichi did as instructed while remaining cautious. _Why the passenger seat? Why wasn't I seated at the back? _The man closed the door, put off his crutch to the back seat of the car and got in to the driving seat. Shuichi got to see that it was modified so that the man could drive the car.

The woman was the last to enter the car and without delay, the engine started. The car is moving.

"How long has it been since our last visit to Beika?" The woman put her left arm on the driving seat's shoulder piece, giving off a hint of intimacy while leaning to the man's shoulder.

"Hmm, to think again, it was quite some years ago. Almost 8, if I recall well." The man answers reservedly.

"So, 8 years since we last met the great detective. And yet look where we are, who we are with..." She turned her glare at Shuichi.

"...Kudo Shinichi miniature," She said, coldly.

"Now, now, we heard that Kudo was busy all the time he couldn't spare his time with his boy," Said the man, now grinning wider than he was. The woman giggles a little—and not the chatty kind of giggle.

"What about _we _show him a game? The game his dad used to play on us that got us, well, you know..."

Shuichi felt something wasn't quite right. He felt as if an alarm in his mind has just pounded.

"...Doomed? No way, what if we got caught by the renowned detective dad of his? What if his mother decided to show us indeed those killer kicks?" The man said playfully. Shuichi's brain boiling with angst. _Who are these people? What are they gonna do? How can I manage dealing with them?_

"Well, well, say..." The woman, now with even the evilest grin Shuichi has ever witnessed, teased.

"Do you see them—his parents? _Where_ are they _now_? Do they have the slightest will to save their kid?"

"Will? Do they even have the _capability _even if they do? They should be trying to save themselves at the moment,"

Shuichi reached the peak of his bewilderness. _Otou-san! Okaa-san! Whatever did they do to you?_ He looked out to the door, to the window; they were locked, the windows shut by a shade. The seatbelt now stuck; preventing Shuichi to move his limbs. He screams in panic; but no one seemed to pass by. He looked at the two sinisters, aiming to look out for their weak point. _But what exactly?_

Shuichi can't forgive himself for acting so recklessly. The pictures of his Otou-san, Kaa-san, his baby sister, his friends, Inspector Takagi...

Inspector Takagi! Shuichi realized that he gave him a press pin alarm for his 6th birthday. Just one press and they would be connected right away. Shuichi fiddled trying to reach it out to his watch.

"Are you trying to grab this? I am sorry but I have to borrow it until the game is over. Now, Shuu-kun, let me explain to you the game," _Sigh_. The woman took off the watch just before Shuichi managed to grab it. Now the only option left is to follow their so-called game...


	2. A Box With No Key

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

_Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja_

_Chitto tōshite kudashanse..._

* * *

Shuichi began to regain control of his consciousness, or at least he looked as if. He swayed his sight away from the gaze visited his bag, the one the woman put beside her in the backseat of the car, through the rear mirror.

"Very good, _cool kid_. Very good. Now, shall we begin? We don't want to let the rest of the Kudo clan wait any longer, do we?"

The dark shades the woman wear reflected through the rear mirror of the car. Shuichi silenced. Whatever he said wouldn't favor him anyway. _Ignorance is bliss_, he spoke in his mind.

"The rule is simple, as simple as a puzzle. We throw in some riddles, you try to answer." Well that indeed sounded simple. It was Shuichi's expertise, riddles and the likes.

"You see, you have to understand that we are not bad people. We know you could do it, that was why we challenged you that," The man explained, but Shuichi barely listened. _Like I would trust you anyway_.

"Come on now, first riddle, Shu—" The woman seemed startled. Did she just notice something she didn't expect?

"_This thing all things devours:_

_Birds, beast, trees, flowers; _

_Gnaws iron, bites steel; _

_Grinds hard stones to meal; _

_Slays king, ruins town, _

_And beats high mountain down._

What is this thing, boy? It's an easy one," The man gave the first riddle. Shuichi smiles, it seemed to be an easy one indeed for him.

"So, what is the connection of the answer to my family's well being? I want to know where they are and more importantly, if they're doing okay," Shuichi asked coldly.

The woman threw another sinister giggle. "You will see, eventually. Now, you might guess what the connections of the answers to the location of your parents are, and we expect you to direct us there. So, keep the answer for yourself, and when you're confident enough to lead us there you just say it."

"And while you were thinking, we will be throwing other riddles for you, of , the we wouldn't threaten you or anything, but we will never assure your family is doing well either," Said the man. Shuichi realized that they were riding on an endless loop around Beika—he realized that they were just keeping the time going. Eventually the car will run out of gas, of course, but it could take days. He needed a reassurement that his family is all right, and it was by solving the riddles.

"And remember, if you waste the only one chance by telling us the direction where they weren't even close just to random-pinpoint,

"What's the next riddle?"

"Well, if you ask...

_It occurs once in every minute _

_Twice in every moment _

_Y__et never in one hundred thousand years._

What is it?" The man gave out the second riddle.

There was a minute of silence.

And then it became two minutes...

Before it had begun, the first second to the tenth minute.

* * *

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

_Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja_

_Chitto tōshite kudashanse_

_Goyō no nai mono tōshasenu_

_Kono ko no nanatsu no oiwai ni_

_O-fuda wo osame ni mairimasu..._

* * *

"Are you stuck, _cool kid_?" The woman asked. Shuichi wondered, why would she be concerned about that? Was he solving the riddle important for her?

"Give me the next riddle," Shuichi demanded.

"The next riddle would probably the most important one, so you better listen carefully, okay? Here it goes:

_A box without hinges, key, or lid, _

_Yet golden treasure inside is hid._"

This time around it was the woman who gave out the riddle. Shuichi thought really hard. _Box? Treasure? This sure isn't the casual Japanese riddles Otou-san had trained me for_. Shuichi swore he would learn all these things when he got home.

_If_, he managed to get home, that is.

"Say, oba-san," Shuichi said coldly. "Have you lived around here before? You seem familiar,"

The woman was struck in subtle shock. "Shuu," she headed down. "I meet you everyday, don't I?"

"The sun is already setting down it seems," said the man cautiously, with the same smile he had been putting on since their first sighting. "I would suggest you pace the game up a little bit, boy. Additional time is _really_ out of the question,"

Shuichi did not need any additional time. In fact, he already knew exactly what, where, when, how, and why all of these were happening. He smiled—the smile the woman recognized very, _very_ well. The particular smile that she used to associate with relief, and a specific button. The fast-forward button, that is. The button that speeds everything up to the sound of light. The button she held in her sweaty palms.

She looked up to the rear mirror. Through the dark shades she saw the man's left eye—as sharp as usual—but with a hint of subtle joy she had got used to lately. She knew he was smiling—and approving.

She pressed the button slowly, so subtle for the excitement she prepared herself for.

"2nd District Beika, Block 22. The Egg Building, and we have got 10 minutes to get there,"

* * *

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

_Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja_

_Chitto tōshite kudashanse_

_Goyō no nai mono tōshasenu_

_Kono ko no nanatsu no oiwai ni_

_O-fuda wo osame ni mairimasu_

_Iki wa yoi yoi, kaeri wa kowai_

_Kowai nagara mo_

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

It was only the tune, but once it rang, the childhood song sang in Takagi's head.

"Well done. Now, it's _our part_,"


	3. They're Not the Only Ones Missing!

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

_*beep*_

Inspector Takagi turned off his beeper. As he walked to his car, he took out his phone and dialled a number.

"Moshi-moshi, Miwako, I will be there in two minutes. Is everything ready?"

He could only nod and gave his five when his underlings paid him good bye.

"Perfect. See you very soon,"

He started his engine and raced up to the rendezvous point where his wife and he were to meet.

* * *

It didn't take long until Takagi-keibu arrived. He grabbed the door knob and unlike usual, the place where he entered in was completely quiet and dark. He pressed the button on his watch and activated his wrist light. He seeked a particular corner he had in mind, and slowly walked—no, sneaked—there. He stayed still behind a pillar.

_Tōryanse, tōryanse_

_Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?_

*beep*

Takagi turned off the ringing beeper again. Preparing for the signal, he was ready to ambush.

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One..._

Still silent, still dark. No movement, no sign of life identified. He tried to recount.

_Three..._

_Two..._

"OTOU-SAN! OKAA-SAN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

_This is it... This is it..._

_BANG!_

The sound of an explosion cracked.

_BANG! BANG!_

Another follows, and another one, in an interval of less than a second. Inspector Takagi stepped out from his hiding place, through the new-formed crowd he seeked a face...

_Is that? No..._

_No... Not that..._

_N__—there!_

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHUU-KUN!"

Shuichi stood in disbelieve. _They... they got me again! I should have known better! Wait, today is my birthday? I didn't even remember! _

It was Inspector Takagi, who first swam through the crowds and managed to give him one bone crushing hug. "Happy birthday, my little boy! I really wish you all the best in life"

Superintendent Sato appeared from behind him. "I can't believe you're this big already..." she said wiping off her tears. "It's like you've grown up within us,"

The next one to come forward was the former Miss Teitan duo, none other than Shuichi's grandmo_–_correction_–_aunties.

"Shuu-kun..." There were no other words coming out of their lips. It was only Shuichi's name and utterances of a happy cry. And of course, another bone-crushing hug. By then Shuichi's shoulder was wet with tears.

"Little boy, you're so little for a 7 years old! I was much bigger when I was your age!" _Tch._ _Kogoro-no-ojiisan_. What did Shuichi expect? At least he passed the casual punch on the head.

And speaking of the devil, there it landed! Apparently, even sober Mouri was a little bit drunk anyway. Shuichi grunted in protest.

Suddenly, he was lifted to the air, spun, and held close to a specific someone.

"Happy birthday, dear boy. Stay young as you are," Yuusaku said. Shuichi smiled, he had always admired this grandfather of his. "Arigatou, ojii-san"

Then a swarm of Teitan Elementary students, Shuichi's friends, came forward and congratulated him. "I had to say that it was hard not to look up at you this afternoon, but hey, we did it," Said Naoko-chan. He blushed subtly. "I thought you guys had more fun playing without me,".

"But we did!" Said Akira. Shuichi gave him the look, and turned away to the next swarm of congratulations; from the teachers and some of the Tokyo metro police staffs.

Sometimes Shuichi thought that these crowd was much more childish than him. He had a birthday, big deal? His birthday wasn't that important anyway. All the cries were just overwhelming, he thought. He was just a little kid, after all. He didn't realize, how he was a prized memorial for these people, about the war they won, some time in the past.

"Eh, where's Kudo-tantei? I didn't see him around," Yumi-san suddenly mentioned.

_Wait. This was supposed to be a birthday surprise thrown for me, right? So where are they now? Are they still hiding? _

"Takagi-keibu, where are they? Otou-san and okaa-san?" Shuichi asked Takagi. "I-I don't know... Miwako? Where are they?"

Sato-san looked jeopardized. She shrugged in confusion.

_Where are they? Were they even here? Are they somewhere else? OTOU-SAN... OKAA-SAN...!_

_WAIT._

**_They're not the only ones missing!_**


End file.
